>> dana: that is shameless self-promotion! my tweets were better than gregs last debate. >> eric: watch, everyone. >> greg:@greggutfeld. >> dana: you can see pictures of jasper if that's a selling point. >> bret: will it be another game-changeer, battle in the bluegrass state? the one and only vice presidential debate on the stage behind me three hours away. live from danville, kentucky, this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. we're live tonight at norton center for the arts at center college in danville, kentucky. three hours from now, we will witness the only vice presidential debate of the

campaign season. trainers say styles make fights. tonight's verbal battle could not offer more of a contrast. youthful paul ryan, self-described numbers whiz, versus the veteran, joe biden, a washington insider with a reputation for unpredictability. we have fox chief coverage. carl cameron inside the spin room with a campaign update. we begin with chief white house correspondent ed henry outside the hall. with a look at what each man needs to accomplish tonight. good evening. >> good evening, bret. a lot of pressure on the vice president to come up big tonight after the first debate to stop what republicans are calling mittmentum. a win tonight bypaul ryan coulda camp to panic mode. he is pumping up expectations for the sparring partner. the 42-year-old congressman did not blink when asked to name vice president biden's

biggest weakness. >> barack obama's record. >> reporter: the 69-year-old vice president biggest channel is to defend that record more aggressively than president obama did. the president picked up the phone aboard air force one today to wish his veep luck on the way to campaign event many miami, where democratic senator nelson had a blunt prediction. >> tonight, joe biden will make mincemeat of paul ryan. [ applause ] >> reporter: no easy task for the vice president. even though he has more experience in debates. >> his convention speech, joe biden, portrayed a president who is engaged, up to the minute on events, who is versed in policy issues. that is not the president we saw on the debate stage in denver. >> reporter: top democrats privately say the biden game plan is to focus on the top of the ticket, hitting romney by going after the target rich ryan budget. strategy the obama camp signaled with a web video today. >> they haven't given me the math.

>> well, i don't have the -- it would take me too long to go through all of the math. >> reporter: biden, though, could be on defense because unlike the first debate focused only on domestic issues this time half of the agenda is foreign policy. so the door is wide open for tough questions act security failures leading to the terror attack in libya. and the administration's mixed messages. then there are the gaffes. >> how they can justify raising taxes in the middle class has been buried the last four years. >> reporter: they may give ryan fodder, analyst note the vice president performs better when the speaking time is limited. >> in debates; particularly, against sarah palin four years ago he was disciplined. i don't think -- i think the republicans will be unwise to count on a biden gaffe. >> reporter: fox learned that the vice president was all over the place in his first debate prep session.

that's why david axelrod and other top obama aides took over the debate prep. bottom line, a little rusty after four years of not debating. i'm told by the top democrats he did at least six intensive debate prep sessions. they are confident he is ready tonight, bret. >> bret: okay, ed. thank you. the presidential candidates are taking something of a backseat to their running mate today. and getting ready for their own rematch next week. chief political correspondent carl cameron has that story. >> hello, miami! [ applause ] >> president a rayed suppor -- rallied support in florida. >> centerpiece of governor romney's economic plan is a new $5 trillion tax cut that favors the wealthiest america americans. [ booing ] don't boo. vote. >> democrats are doing their level best to undermine the romney-ryan ticket to accuse him of concealing the

conservative aspect. >> he's trying to go through an extreme makeover. after running for more than a year, in which he called himself severely conservative, mitt romney is trying to convince you he was severely kidding. >> after 200 fundraisers since announcing the re-election bid, mr. obama holds the last one before election day tonight in miami. florida like all of the swing states has been for months and is now a tossup. the blizzard of daily polls is at or close to where it's always been. in florida, the president is up one point, 48-47 over romney. in virginia, romney by a point. ohio, president is up six. in colorado, romney leads 48-vii. the latest quinnipiac poll for cbs and the "new york times." romney's victory strategy hinges on those four states more than any others. the real clear politic average shows tie in florida. in ohio, president is up over a point. virginia, he remains ahead by half a point. and romney has that same lead in colorado. >> prayer is the most helpful

thing you can do for me. >> mr. romney met with reverend billy graham and his son in north carolina, a state mr. obama won in 2008. but where romney aides are confident a victory this time. both president obama and romney were on the stump yesterday in ohio where they bemoaned the president's lack of leadership. >> time and time again the president told us he'd take on these things and hasn't. he turns around and tries to blame others. congress won't get together. congress won't get together unless there is a strong lead they're puts them together. >> at the tail end of his meeting with the reverend billy graham, the reverend said to mitt romney i will do anything i can to help you, and that's on the record, though it was not on camera. romney and ryan reunite tomorrow in ohio. president is at the white house. mr. ryan in preparation for tonight's debate had nine debate rehearsals and they think he is ready to go against biden this evening. bret? >> bret: carl cameron in spin room. see you there in a few minutes. thank you, carl. how will tonight's debate

impact the race? let me know on twitter. follow me. @bretbaier. new issues for two of the president green energy pet projects. i.r.s. is proposing a bankruptcy settlement for solyndra saying it's a dodge to avoid taxes. house committee wants to know what the energy department knew about problems with panels made by now bankrupt abound solar. the company received half a billion dollars apiece in taxpayer funded loan guarantees. the dow's losing streak continueed today. it lost 19. s&p 500 goes up a fraction. nasdaq dropped two. 14 people have died from the meningitis outbreak now. the cdc says 170 people have been sickened. that is 33 more cases and two more deaths since tuesday. agency estimates 14,000 people could be at risk. this outbreak has been linked to steroid shots for back pain. the smoke is still clearing from wednesday's fiery capitol hill hearing

about the terror attack on the u.s. mission in libya. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge has an update tonight. >> i was asking if he already had the documents. >> if you notice i'm looking at one on the ipad. >> you already have one. that's all i asked. >> day after the contentious hearing at the house government oversight committee on the administration response to the consulate attack, the state department spokesperson defended the top witness. >> i'm going to refer you to what under-secretary kennedy said on the hill yesterday and from this podium yesterday. >> while testifying to lawmakers he thought benghazi was terrorism within 24 hours. at a short notice news conference after the hearing. ambassador kennedy again defended ambassador rice. who characterized the attack as a demonstration that spin spn out of control. >> if any administration official, including any career official had been on television, on sunday september 16. they would have said the same thing that ambassador rice

said. >> in his testimony, the state department regional security officer who was on the ground in libya before the attack relayed a conversation where he asked for more help and told he was shooting for the sun, the moon and the stars. >> it's not the hardships, it's not the gunfire, not the threats. it's dealing and fighting against the people, programs, and personnel who are supposed to be supporting me. i added it by saying for me, the tall taliban is on the insie of the building. >> kennedy responded the state department security is the best of the best and dismissed nordstrom's viewpoint. >> i was surprised to hear language like that used. >> fox news learned a renewed focus on the briefing given friday september 14 by david petraeus to members of the house intelligence committee. in that briefing, sources confirm to fox that petraeus seemed very much wedded to the administration's youtube video explanation. without discussing classified information, congressman peter king who has great respect for general petraeus says the

brief was inadequate. >> especially on what we know now that there was more information available that was not told us to that day. >> the state department announced today that the service veteran who retired in 2000 temporarily assume control in embassy in tripoli, confirmation of ambassador's stephens replacement. to underscore the commitment to libya in the transition, bret? >> bret: thank you. yemeni security official who worked at the u.s. embassy in santorusanaa was assassinated t. it appears to be the work of al-qaeda. we will talk with top advisors to both presidential campaigns live in a few minutes in spin room. up next, the palace intrigue within the obama administration over libya. we are walking around campus here in center college. don't know if biden or

congressman ryan will see this. we came upon a statue. abe lincoln in the middle here. he is a kentucky native, actually born in this state. grew up in illinois. we thought the quote here on this statue was pretty fitting for this debate. "i will study and be ready. and then maybe the chance will come." we'll see how much these two candidates have studied tonight. we talked about how much security is pretty tight around this campus. everybody has a pass. even honest abe has one. special continues after the break. break -- "special report" continues after the break. there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8.

♪ ♪ >> bret: welcome back to nowhere top center for arts in danville, kentucky. vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan go at it at 9:00 p.m. eastern. our coverage starts at 8:55. we told you earlier, part of

the debate will be devoted to foreign affairs. you have to expect the libya scandal will come up. it will probably come up early. chief washington correspondent james rosen looks at how the obama administration has been battling itself over that issue. >> the question of how high up the chain decisions were being made about pre9/11 security in benghazi was answered under oath wednesday when senior obama administration officials testified that the buck stopped below secretary of state hillary clinton. with assistant secretary of state lamb who oversees diplomatic security. >> we had the correct number of assets in benghazi at the time of 9/11 for what had been agreed upon. >> level that you need to weigh in or someone higher needed to weigh in? anyone at the national security council way in there? >> no, sir, did not. >> question remain about public statements like these. >> we don't see at this point signs it was a coordinated planned premeditated attack.

>> it includes all information. >> washington is receiving stud destream of data to suggest benghazi was coordinated attack. i could follow what was happening in real time. >> correct. >> according to the detail account of the murder provided by state department officials tuesday night, lamb was hearing directly from d.s. agent hearing gunfire and explosion started working cameras and phones inside the tactical operation center or t.o.c. at the consulate. the allege in the t.o.c. look at the camera and it revealed a large number of people, armed men flowing in the compound. at the first moment when the agent in the t.o.c. seens the people flowing through the gate, he hits an alarm and gets on the public address system as well yelling

"attack, attack!" that agent from the top of the incident has been on the phone. he has called the quick reaction security team. he called the libyan authority, embassy in tripoli and washington. >> patricia smith, mother of slain officer sean smith said the obama administration has been feeding her outright lies about what happened to her son. today, a white house spokesman said president obama remains personally committed to getting the smiths the information they deserve. >> bret: james rosen in washington. thanks. now let's take a look at the stage behind me where the debate will take place. it's right here in center college. intimate auditorium. we are high above our perch her. you can see the table behind me. vice president biden will be on the left side of your screen. stage right. the moderator in the middle obviously. congressman ryan to the right side of your screen. that is a flip from where the

ticket was last week. where they were standing lecterns now they'll be sitting obviously. same format with the question and different segments. you see this auditorium a little bit smaller, the family will sit down front here. center college, school of about 1300 students right in the middle of kentucky. it's a small place but it has been host to another vice presidential debate in 2000. cheney and joe lieberman were on the stage and had memorable moments in that debate. we could see some very memorable moments on this stage as well. we're going to take you over now to the spin room. also where the press is. it's all the way across campus. but follow me.

we'll show you here through the window. like we're looking at a zoo here. it is kind of a zoo in there. this is the press room. you can see the phone and computer spot set up for the reporters and where they will be. a little bit different. not all in the same room. go up to the spin room. >> this is the spin room. this is where we will be after the debate. this is also our home for the rest of "special report." this is our, kind our broadcast spot for the rest of this show and where megyn kelly will be with the panel. you can see the romney spot. people out and about after the debate to spin and talk to local affiliates. in this corner, obama team. we will talk with deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter here on "special report" live after the break.

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>> bret: looking live at the stage in danville, kentucky, less than three hours away from big debate. we'll talk to the top advisors to the two campaigns. first, joining me in the spin room is obama deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter. stephanie, thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> bret: what does the vice president have to do tonight? >> he will do what he always does, speak the truth. where the country has been andbe where the president and he want to take it to the next four. he'll hold ryan accountable for some facts that have been slipping by the wayside shall we say in past couple of weeks from the romney-ryan campaign. a week ago, we had a

presidential debate, mitt romney all of a sudden said there was no $5 trillion cu tax cut. i imagine that will be a topic. paul ryan once said he didn't have time to do the math on the tax cut. openfully tonight over 90 minutes he can do the math for us. >> bret: you even concedeed on the show with the deduction and credits while they haven't listed them specifically it wouldn't $5 trillion. >> here is what i said. he put out a number of tax cuts whether it's the estate tax, lowering everyone's rate by 20%, getting rid of the amt, payroll tax, number of tax cut he put on the table. the sum of the tax cuts is $5 trillion. >> bret: he said in the debate? you capped it, set a cap you could reach it. tax policy center which you cite, campaign cites says that you could reach the number that he is talking about -- >> no, it didn't say that. if you could reach the number -- you could add up the

deduction and loopholes to $5 trillion if you raise taxes on the middle class. that's what the tax policy center says. that's what a lot of independent economists said. >> bret: actually, no. they said you don't have to -- it could be revenue neutral if you take off certain things off the table. >> you mean if you don't take off the table what mitt romney has taken off the table. he has taken investment income off the table. he is not going to touch those loophole for high-income. because of what romney has taken off the table and the lack of specificity on the deduction it's impossible to do the math. >> bret: my point is that you are down in to what exactly he is going to say specifically tonight. vice president biden you are saying he will try to call him on that. large part of the debate, some of it, possibly half will deal with foreign policy. you were asked today about libya. specifically on the back and

forth about what the administration has said and done, here is what you said on cnn today about that. >> the entire reason that this has become the political topic it is, is because of mitt romney and paul ryan. a big part of their stump speech. reckless and irresponsible. >> bret: the entire reason it's become political topic it is, now obviously you know that romney-ryan campaign jumped on that. but even from the left, you had mother jones saying this -- benghazi might be an issue because you know four americans were murdered by militants. a lot of people jumped on the comment. >> well, mostly people associated with the romney campaign. >> bret: this person is from mother jones. that is not a right wing organization. >> i was asked why it became such a political circus. who was the first person to respond to the attacks?

romney. he was criticized because it was political. national news organization and asked to apologize by the national news organization. he has continued to attack the president on the response to libya. >> bret: the white house -- >> bret, can i just finish? >> bret: cairo embassy release. disavowed the same release the same night. seven days after the attack, two days after rice got on six sunday shows and said that the attack was tied to this video. the benghazi attack. the president went on letterman, and said this to david letterman about the libya attack. tying it to the video. >> you had a video that was released by somebody who lives here, a shadowy character who is extremely offensive video directed at muhammad, and islam. >> making fun of the prophet muhammad. >> making fun of the prophet muhammad. this caused great offense.

much of muslim world. >> what also happened is the extremist and terrorist used this as an excuse to attack a variety of our embassies including the consulate in libya. >> the state department holds a conference call the other day and reporter asked what if all the events that you described led officials to believe for the first several days it was prompted by protest against the video? senior state department official answers, "that is a question you would have to ask others. that was not our conclusion." in other words, the state department did not conclude that benghazi was tied to the video. >> that is because it was an intelligence conclusion. >> bret: the state department -- >> let's back up for a second. what are you suggesting here? are you suggesting that we're playing politics with this? >> bret: i'm not suggesting anything. you said that the entire reason this has become the political topic -- >> right.

>> bret: four people are dead. >> absolutely. this administration, let me just get my sentence out. this administration has treated this entire tragedy with the utmost seriousness to get to the bottom of the attacks. hold the perpetrators accountable and make sure it never happens again. that's why we are being responsible and dill jent by the investigation -- diligent about the investigation. we have two people campaigning around the country accusing us of covering something up. yesterday, romney accused us of covering this up. you know how investigations go. investigations take time to uncover. and as information has become available the administration has made that information public. >> bret: there was no protest. >> how about this? >> bret: on the first day no, protest. >> national intelligence statement, you may disagree with but you can't accuse them of playing politics. his statement two weeks after the attack said the original conclusion that the people were taking advantage of protests surrounding that

video to attack the embassy. we learn weeks later it was a deliberate premeditated attack by terrorists. >> responsive people do conducting an investigation and releasing information for the american people to have understand -- >> bret: we have to go -- >> what happened in this country. >> bret: we have to go i'm sorry. thank you for this time. we'll be on the other side of the break. >> next time i'll bring my notes. >> bret: thank you for the time. next up dan seymour from mitt romney's campaign. mike rowe here at a ford dealer with a little q&a for fiona. tell me fiona, who's having a big tire event? your ford dealer. who has 11 major brands to choose from? your ford dealer. who's offering a rebate? your ford dealer. who has the low price tire guarantee... affording peace of mind to anyone who might be in the market for a new set of res?

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>> bret: a moment ago we talked to the deputy manager of the obama campaign. now romney senior advise vor dan seynour with me in the spin room. >> good to be with you, bret. >> bret: you play have heard that stephanie cutter is forecasting that joe biden is going to go hard on the offensive about truths, saying that not only paul ryan but mitt romney are not telling the truth to the american people. president obama said this today in miami about the top of the ticket. >> try to go through an extreme makeover. >> after running for more than a year in which he called himself severely conservative. romney trying to convince you he was severely kidding. >> they are saying that there is a change happening that

mitt romney is evolving. he is trying to go to the middle. how do you respond to that? >> they are desperate to change the subject, to distract. you had 70 million people see unfiltered two men stand side-by-side and have a conversation. what they found is romney was brimming with ideas, energetic and optimistic and confident. president obama not only didn't have an explanation for the last four years, 23 million miles per hours out of work, 1 in 6 in poverty, 23.7 million americans on food stamps but he didn't have a rationale for where he is going to go from here, rationale for a second term. that is what happened last week. that is what is, you know, rattling the obama campaign. >> bret: they want specifics of what tax deduction, what tax cut and loopholes will be gone. what of the $5 trillion tax cut and how it will be paid for? they want it all on a list of paper and they want it at this debate tonight. >> they want an plex nation for $5 trillion tax cut that doesn't exist. governor romney is not for $5 trillion tax cut.

he has been clear. anything that is not revenue neutral he is not for. for reducing the tax burden on middle class. not for sharing the tax that upper income pay. they create a plan in their mind and say come up with specifics for it but it's not our plan. >> your answer, his answer, ryan's answer is we'll work with congress on specifics. that is not going to please them no matter what. is there we're laying out a framework. we have principles a andee i'll do what a functional legislative process does. come together and work out details. >> bret: get you on some specifics. romney said about foreign policy, aggressive and forward leaning in a speech earlier. take a listen. >> the president has also failed to lead in syria. more than 30,000 men, women, and children have been massacred by the assad regime in the past 20 months. violent extremists are flowing in the fight. our ally turkey has been attacked.

conflict threatped stability in the region. >> bret: he laid it out there. what would romney do about syria? >> he has been very clear. in the hands of moderate forces in the opposition to put pressure on assad a bring him down. do it through the renallal partners, through the saudis and qataris and turks. they need support and coordination. united states has been dragging its feet for a long time. there have been effort to reach out to opposition forces. it's too late. more to be done. >> bret: afghanistan, 2014 is still a date he is going to look at. he would listen to commanderrers on the ground. is that a date that is firm? troops coming home if it's president romney in 2014? >> in that respect our position is if same with the president. we have disagreement with the president on afghanistan. we were skeptical of negotiation with taliban. we were against, you know, the politically timed troop

withdrawal around the fighting season. >> bret: now you're on the same page. >> always been -- as far as the 2014 transition, be clear about, this governor romney has been for the 2014 transition. >> bret: obama has a date on a page? >> obama is main tag flexibility after -- maintaining flexibility after 2014 with conditions on the ground. >> bret: are you saying it's same thing? calendar date on the page to give taliban date they'll step in -- >> this is important. governor romney said it was a mistake to broadcast timelines if he is a commander in chief, broadcast timeline so enmys are in the know about the next move. >> bret: you just said 2014 is the date. >> so the president has announced 2014. governor romney candidate asked do you support the president's approximation or not? he supports the president's position. he is commander in chief would never have broadcast the position like the president did. >> bret: on iran, what is different? president romney? >> this is credibility that is enormous here.

administration drag the feet on sanction. congress, bipartisan coalition pushing for sanction in congress. president fought it every step of the way. domestic political move in the syria to pressure the iranian regime. president sat silent, didn't support the green revolution. we are not for military action. peaceful resolution, the military threat has to be credible. that is the point here. the credibility is gone. you need a new administration to come to place with the credibility. eyes of the ally of israel and gulf state and eyes of the adversary like iran. >> bret: i gave stephanie a lot of time because we were back and forth. 15 seconds here, what does ryan have to do tonight? >> biden as we know is an experienceed debater and he has been doing it for 40 years. david plouffe, one of obama top political advisor said the reason they picked him, one reason he won the debates in 2008. what congressman ryan needs to do is keep talking about what has happened in the last four years and choice he and governor romney will offer for

the next four years. let president biden own the last four years. biggest liability he has. biden may be a great debat deba. he owns the record he has to defend tonight. >> bret: thank you. biden versus ryan. what can we expect? we ask the all-star panel when we come back. gecko (clearing throat) thank you, mr. speaker, uh, members of congress. in celebration of over 75 years of our government employees insurance company, or geico...as most of you know it. ...i propose savings for everyone! i'm talking hundreds here... and furthermore.. newcaster: breaking news. the gecko is demanding free pudding. and political parties that are actual parties! with cake! and presents! ah, that was good. too bad nobody could hear me. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

those guy, have you seen arope-a-dope? >> we have a chance to offer a clear choice. >> joe needs to be joe. >> paul ryan will do great. >> bret: okay. a little wrap-up from the candidates there. let's bring in the panel. joining me here in danville. steve hayes, senior writer for the "weekly standard." and juan williams, columnist with the hill.

and from washington, this is a privilege because his nats are playing, syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. charles, we know it's 1-1. we start with you. your thoughts? >> well, look, normally, historically there has never been a vice presidential debate that affected a presidential election. i think the reason it might be different this time is that democrats biden is going to try to relitigate the catastrophic presidential debate. whether was unusual about -- what was unusual about the first presidential debate, it was so decisive. 7-1 advantage in public opinion for romney. and second, it was decisive without a zinger, without a gaffe. device i on point. it was romney piling up arguments, facts, about what he would do, what obama had done. won him the debate. so that gives a opportunity to the democrats in this debate to try to undo that with what we heard from stephanie cutter that either the republicans

are lying about what they want to do. or that romney is changing his colors and becoming a moderate overnight. you will hear biden go out of the theme of the $5 trillion tax cut. other instances of fact and program. so the result is not going to matter whether you like the vice president or whether you like ryan. that won't affect the election. if democrats can succeed in undoing the argument that romney made and ryan cannot defend it, it could have the effect of slowing the republican momentum. that is why it's an important debate unlike any other debate in vice presidential history. >> bret: juan? >> you know, last time it was $70 million that tuned in to watch bret baier -- i mean the presidential debate. i think this time we are going to set records, too. i'll tell you why. along the line of what charles

was saying the debate has so much moment to it in terms of the power and the political impact of that first debate that everyone is going to want to see. can paul ryan continue momentum. or can biden shift the momentum back for the democrats? people are going to get introduced to paul ryan in big numbers for the first time. the darling of the conservative move in the the country, intellectual leader of the movement. in many ways does he move back to the middle. what president obama called today "extreme makeover." is he going to try to remake himself and can biden stop him from moving to the middle? can biden say, in fact, i know exactly where you stand on budget issues. shredding social safety net issues medicare issues. what does paul ripe say in response? >> bret: i heard a democrat today tell me that the biden strategy is to try to get a wedge between ryan an romney. try to drive a wedge to make romney uncomfortable for the

next debate, town hall debate to try to put him off-balance for the president. to take advantage of that. the next time. you buy that? >> i do buy that. that is one of the things that the democrats would like to have come out of the debate. paul ryan knows that. he knows that he is here to make an argument on behalf of mitt romney. in a sense, this is not a paul ryan and joe biden debate. this is a mitt romney and barack obama debate. they will make arguments about the two men who would lead the country for the next four years. paul ryan knows that. if he has done any specific substantive training for debate beyond what he knows it's on that. make sure that his views are the same and he is making the case on behalf of mitt romney. the most interesting thing we are likely to see tonight is a continuation of what we saw the democrats do to paul ripe at the convention. what we saw democrats do after the fact to romney. basically suggesting that everything that they are saying is untrue. and make paul ryan try to defend on that basis.

>> bret: the whole thing about the vulnerability for paul ryan he is too wonky and he could get so into the weeds and numbers. we're hearing from republicans is really just junk, because they think that the more detailed he gets, on substance, the more people at home say that they like it. that is what they want to hear to refute rhetoric. >> i think ryan is precisely the republican you would want in the debate like this. for exactly that reason. democrats are pretending somehow obama lost the first debate on style. he didn't. he lost it on substance. what is relitigated tonight is the substance. i think ryan is the man you want in place who can defend it, explain it, say everything essentially that romney had said. if he succeeds in just holding his own on that, the momentum that romney had established in first debate will continue.

could carry him right in the presidential debate. >> bret: okay. we'll take a break here so charles can see the score. we're going to take a break. next up, the latest on the libya scandal. bob... oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners.

♪ ♪ >> bret: well, just a little more than two hours, vice president biden and congressman paul ryan will be on the stage with moderator martha raddatz and foreign policy will be a topic. it may be the first, that's my bet. back with the panel. libya a big topic. we had a tirery interview with stephanie cutter with the obama campaign on that topic. what about that?

where the story is going from here. >> two things that struck me, one, she didn't have answers to the questions you were proposing. when she did have answers they weren't good. the answers she gave about why they were still talking about the videotape, she said, i believe she said we learned three weeks later, or maybe she said we learned weeks later it was a premeditated terrorist attack. that is not true. it's simply false. they learned immediately that it was an al-qaeda and islamic magrab attack. we knew quickly it was premeditated. they were briefing members of congress on capitol hill, telling them this. there was a state department comment that this was an attack that had been planned and premeditated. what she said tonight dug the hole deeper rather than helped them out. >> bret: juan, i read this quote. it's part of the conference call we had this week, that originally we weren't invited to and the state department held. and this question about what

prompted you to tie the attack in benghazi to the video? the state department official says that is a question you would have to ask others. that was not our conclusion. from the beginning. then you had testimony yesterday on capitol hill. in which this woman lamb says she was in constant contact. head video connection with the perimeter cameras there. they knew it wasn't a protest. it was calm all day. they were in constant contact with the people there. where was the disconnect with rice going out five days later. then the president on david letterman linking the video to the benghazi attack. two days after rice is on the five sunday talk shows? >> i think what you got here is a situation where there is a larger cache of intelligence material being interpreted by people like james clapper, the director of national intelligence who has come out and said in fact he had given information to people like susan rice. >> bret: it's an

intelligence problem. >> it would be an intelligence problem. >> bret: that's what stephanie cutter tried to say. >> that's what clapper said and that's what petraeus said and rice said and the under-secretary kennedy said yesterday. but you know there are examples of specific instances that you just cited, where individuals say you know what? we thought right from the start this was highly suspicious. in addition to which they could link the individual who had been at guantanamo who then became the poe cuss of investigative efforts. >> bret: charles? >> we know there was no demonstration. there was all a fiction. the question is when susan rice went out, did the white house know what she was going to say? did the secretary of state know? that i think is the ultimate question. who told her to stay those fictions? i think in the end, that is what is going to unravel. watergate scandal was about who knew up high and when. i'll remind you that nobody died in watergate. >> bret: the other thing to point out is the president is

on david letterman two days after susan rice is on those five sunday talk shows linking those two things. this is a story that is not going away. >> right. they continue on that theme over and over again about the video. when it was completely irrelevant. >> bret: charles, thank you very much. we'll see you later on for the coverage. steve, juan, as always. that is it for panel. stay tuned for some finalbout oe here. in center college. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day

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